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Creating a perfect build in Destiny 2 is a tall order for most. Guardians will have to find the perfect weapons, armor, and mods before they can tackle the game's hardest challenges, such as Grandmaster Nightfalls.

Related: Destiny 2: How To Reach Max Power Level Quickly

An important part of this process is Masterworking your weapons. Every Legendary and certain Exotic weapons in Destiny 2 can be upgraded to provide bonus stats and even generate Orbs of Power on multikills, allowing players to utilize systems such as Charged with Light. Needless to say, Masterworking your weapons is critical to getting the most out of them. Here is a complete guide to Masterworking weapons in Destiny 2.

Updated August 6th, 2021, by Charles Burgar: Masterworking weapons has become more important as Destiny 2 evolves. Charged with Light and Super builds heavily rely on generating Orbs of Power, something Masterworked weapons do exceptionally well. Adept weapons were also released since we published this article originally. Those weapons have slightly different stats when Masterworked when compared to standard weapons, so it was time to give this guide an update. We've updated the organization of this guide to make it easier to read, and we've included a section that discusses how Masterworked Adept weapons differ from non-Adept weapons.

What Is A Masterworked Weapon?

Destiny 2 Adored Sniper Rifle Stats

Masterworked weapons are Legendary or Exotic weapons with a golden border around their weapon icon. These items come with certain unique properties:

  1. They can track combatant or Guardian kills.
  2. They generate Orbs of Power on multikills.
  3. Legendary Masterworked weapons grant +10 to a random stat.
    1. Exotic Masterworked weapons grant a massive stat increase or a new perk.

Generating Orbs of Power on multikills is the largest boon of a Masterworked weapon. This allows Guardians to recharge their Super faster and interact with armor mod mechanics such as Charged with Light. These Orbs also spawn in PvP, allowing you to gain your Super much more quickly than the opposing team if you can frequently land double kills. If you use a particular weapon frequently, consider Masterworking it.

How Do You Masterwork A Weapon?

You can Masterwork any weapon from its perk menu. In your inventory, hover over a weapon you like. Inspect that weapon to open its perk menu. From there, an option at the bottom-left of the screen will display one of two options based on its rarity:

  • Legendary: Upgrade your weapon's Masterwork tier
  • Exotic: Apply an Exotic Catalyst

Masterworking Legendaries

Destiny 2 Masterworking Stats

Legendaries are upgraded in a similar vein as armor, requiring resource investment to increase their rank. Once a weapon reaches rank ten, it is considered Masterworked. Unlike armor, Masterworking a weapon is relatively cheap. Each rank requires the following investment:

Rank

Material Cost

1

  • Nothing

2

  • 2,500 Glimmer

3

  • 2,500 Glimmer
  • x1 Legendary Shard

4

  • 2,500 Glimmer
  • x1 Legendary Shard
  • x1 Enhancement Core

5

  • 2,500 Glimmer
  • x2 Legendary Shard
  • x1 Enhancement Core

6

  • x2 Legendary Shard
  • x2 Enhancement Core

7

  • x3 Legendary Shard
  • x2 Enhancement Core

8

  • x3 Legendary Shard
  • x3 Enhancement Core

9

  • x5 Legendary Shard
  • x3 Enhancement Core

10

  • x10 Legendary Shard
  • x5 Enhancement Core

Upgrading a weapon from rank one to ten requires 10,000 Glimmer, 27 Legendary Shards, and 17 Enhancement Cores. Consult our Enhancement Core guide for tips on how to obtain this resource.

Masterworking Exotics

Destiny 2 Lumina Catalyst

Exotic weapons use a different system to earn their Masterworked status. Exotic weapons in Destiny 2 have an Exotic Catalyst, a miscellaneous item that drops from pre-determined activities. Players will have to farm these activities to obtain an Exotic Catalyst. If an Exotic weapon does not have a Catalyst slot, it cannot be Masterworked.

Related: Everything You Need To Know About Destiny 2 In 2021

Once a weapon's Catalyst has been earned, players must equip it on their weapon to initiate a unique challenge. This Masterworking task typically asks for 500 kills with that weapon. Once done, inspect the weapon one more time, hover over the Exotic Catalyst, then "apply" the Catalyst by holding the interact button. This will officially Masterwork your Exotic weapon, granting it additional stats or perks. Unlike Legendaries, Exotic Masterworks are not random; they always grant the same bonus.

Visit our Destiny 2 Exotic Catalysts guide for a full list of Exotic Catalysts currently available.

Masterworking Adept Weapons

Destiny 2 Igneous Hammer (Adept)

Adept weapons work a little differently when it comes to Masterworked stats. When you Masterwork an Adept weapon, it will increase one stat by +10 points and every other compatible stat by +3. For example, if you Masterworked a Palindrome with a Range Masterwork, you'd get:

  • +10 Range
  • +3 Stability
  • +3 Handling
  • +3 Reload Speed

Despite Impact being a stat on Palindrome, it doesn't increase it by +3 since Impact isn't a stat Hand Cannons can typically Masterwork.

Masterwork Stats

Destiny 2 Falling Guillotine Masterwork Stats

Unknown to most players, certain weapon archetypes can only roll certain Masterwork stat bonuses. For example, Bows are the only weapons in Destiny 2 that can increase their accuracy rating via their Masterwork bonus. Since the Masterwork bonus a gun provides is random, players might have to farm the same weapon a few times before finding a specific Masterwork option. Potential archetype Masterwork bonuses are listed below.

Every Gun

  • Stability
  • Handling
  • Range
  • Reload Speed

Swords

  • Impact

Fusion Rifles

  • Charge Time

Bows

  • Accuracy
  • Draw Time

Launchers

  • Blast Radius
  • Projectile Velocity

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